“Never again” means that Israel must ensure that Iran not be allowed to produce nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Yad Vashem on Monday evening.
Israel’s enemies such as Iran should not err in thinking that internal division has weakened the country to such an extent that they can annihilate the Jewish people, he emphasized,
“The Jewish people live,” Netanyahu exclaimed.
“New oppressors, may think that we do not have the determination and internal cohesion to stand up to them. They are very wrong. We will defend ourselves, and together we will repel any threat to our existence,” Netanyahu stated.
“Our enemies will find us standing together, shoulder-to-shoulder,” Netanyahu said.
He spoke as domestic turmoil over his judicial overhaul plan has caused regional enemies such as Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah to speculate that Israel could after 75 years collapse from within.
The collapse of the Third Reich did not end the calls for Israel’s destruction, except that today that threat comes from Tehran’s “regime of terror,” Netanyahu said.
The lessons of the Holocaust that evil must be halted in its tracks must be applied here to prevent a nuclear Iran, Netanyahu said.
“The victory of the past does not alone guarantee the victory of the future. That is why we firmly fight any nuclear agreement with Iran, which would pave its way to nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
“For the same reason, we fight aggressively against Iran's terrorist branches around us. Those who seek to wrap us in a stranglehold of terror will encounter an overwhelming response,” he added.
Netanyahu: Israeli democracy is proof of Jewish victory in the Holocaust's aftermath
The proof of the Jewish victory in the aftermath of the Holocaust can be seen in the fact that Israel is a free, vibrant democracy, and an object of admiration around the world, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his remarks at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in Yad Vashem on Monday evening.
During his speech, the prime minister told the story of a Holocaust survivor, Benjamin Zeev Wertzberger, who was born in Hungary and survived the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria before making his way to Israel after the Holocaust.
"There is no other country in the world whose sons and daughters would have managed to rise from the ashes of destruction and soar to the heights of revival. Despite its many challenges, Israel is a rising world power, an object of admiration for its extraordinary capabilities."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Despite the difficulties he endured, despite being the sole survivor of his family, Wertzberger refused to give up on his dreams, said Netanyahu. "At an advanced age, he chose to start working at the Western Wall. For him, it was the overwhelming victory over the oppressor - the triumphant proof that the nation of Israel is alive. Every day that he worked at the Kotel, and as he shined and cleaned the stones of the Kotel, he felt the enormous turn in our nation's history, the turn from a beacon to a resurrection.
"All his acquaintances and family say: there was no happier person than him," said Netanyahu. "Benjamin Zeev passed away a year and a half ago at the age of 95, but his grandchildren and great-grandchildren are with us tonight. The generations and descendants of Holocaust survivors, and their presence in Yad Vashem, is "a sign and example of victory over our enemies."
"And it goes without saying, this victory cannot erase the intensity of our nation's tragedy in the Holocaust: entire communities were destroyed, millions of our brothers and sisters were slaughtered in horrific deaths, and in addition to them, millions of other peoples were murdered. Moral values were trampled, human culture was destroyed, the image of man was degraded to dust. These painful scars will stay with us forever."
"And despite all this, we must remember the unique victory of the people of Israel," he said, turning his attention to the present day. "The pinnacle of victory is the independence of our 75-year-old country. Israel is a free, vibrant, democratic, high-achieving country. A country that we all build together generation after generation.
"There is no other country in the world whose sons and daughters would have managed to rise from the ashes of destruction and soar to the heights of revival. Despite its many challenges, Israel is a rising world power, an object of admiration for its extraordinary capabilities.
"And I hear this in every meeting, in every conversation with world leaders - including from the leaders of the Arab countries with whom we achieved historic peace agreements, and also from the leaders of other Arab countries with whom we also intend to achieve peace agreements. The meaning of peace is seen in many ways throughout the year, including this day, when Muslim children in Dubai learn about the Holocaust of the Jewish people."